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Chris Sabin
| birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, USA | death_date = | death_place = | resides = | billed = Hell, Michigan Detroit, Michigan | trainer = Amazing N8 Bobo Brown Scott D'Amore | debut = 2001 | retired = }} Joshua Harter (February 4, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Chris Sabin. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is currently one half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions with partner Alex Shelley as The Motor City Machine Guns. After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 for Border City Wrestling, and quickly began competing for numerous other independent promotions. In 2003, Sabin joined TNA, and quickly won the TNA X Division Championship, which he later unified with the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship. In 2004, he also wrestled for Ring of Honor. In 2005 Chris wrestled in the UK at International Showdown for The Wrestling Channel's first year anniversary at a sold out Coventry Skydome. Throughout the next few years, Sabin competed mainly in TNA's X Division, until forming the Motor City Machine Guns with Alex Shelley in mid-2007. Throughout his career, Sabin has held numerous championships, and was the last WWA International Cruiserweight Champion. He has also held titles in Border City Wrestling and Maryland Championship Wrestling. In Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max, he held the ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Championship, and in TNA he is a former four-time X Division Champion. In 2007, Sabin won the All Japan Pro Wrestling Junior League Tournament, and also won the TNA Super X Cup in 2003. He was a member of the winning team in the TNA X Cup Tournaments in 2004, and 2006. Career Harter began training as a wrestler in Michigan at the NWA Great Lakes Pro Wrestling School. After the school began experiencing difficulties, he travelled to Windsor, Ontario and completed his training under Scott D'Amore and "Amazing" N8 Mattson at the Can-Am Wrestling School. He debuted in 2000 after four months training as "Chris Sabin", and began working for D'Amore's Border City Wrestling promotion and for independent promotions in Michigan. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–present) Singles Run (2003–2007) Sabin joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003 as a heel and won the TNA X Division Championship. His reign ended after three months when he lost to Michael Shane in the first ever Ultimate X match on August 20.On September 3 of that year, Sabin, now a face, won the 2003 Super X Cup, thus becoming the number one contender to the X Division Championship. He regained the X Division Championship on January 7, 2004, defeating Shane, Christopher Daniels and Low Ki in the second Ultimate X match.After returning from injury, Sabin took part in the World X Cup in May 2004, forming Team TNA with Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper. On May 26, Team USA defeated Team Mexico, Team Canada and Team Japan in a two hour pay-per-view event which saw the teams fight one another in a variety of matches. The finals saw Sabin wrestle the Canadian Petey Williams and the Mexican Héctor Garza in an Ultimate X match, which Sabin won when he retrieved a large red "X" which had been suspended above the ring on steel cables. For the remainder of 2004, Sabin contended for the X Division Championship. He won another Ultimate X match on November 9 to win a title shot at Petey Williams. At Turning Point 2004 on December 5, however, Williams was able to secure a victory with the help of a pair of brass knuckles. Sabin got another shot at the title at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005, in an Ultimate X match with Williams and A.J. Styles, but the match and title were won by Styles.Throughout 2005, Sabin feuded with Michael Shane, by now wrestling as Matt Bentley. In September 2005 he began a feud with Shocker that was killed when Shocker was unable to return from Mexico for their scheduled match at Unbreakable on September 11, instead Sabin faced Petey Williams and won after hitting the Cradleshock. In 2006, Sabin mostly teamed up with Sonjay Dutt, to great effect, beating Team Canada in a number one contenders tag team tournament on TNA Impact!. At the Against All Odds pay-per-view event Sabin and Dutt were beaten by Chris Harris and James Storm (America's Most Wanted) in a bout for the NWA World Tag Team Championships. On March 11, Chris Sabin defeated Alex Shelley and Sonjay Dutt in a 3-way match to represent both the USA in the "International X Division Showcase" at Destination X 2006 as well as joining Jay Lethal on Team TNA in the upcoming World X Cup Tournament. Later that month, Sabin was hospitalized with a severe concussion after taking four blows to the head during a show for the Northeast Wrestling (NEW) promotion on March 25 in Bristol, Connecticut. He was released after undergoing a CAT scan. Sabin acted as the captain of Team USA at World X Cup 2006, defeating Puma of Team Mexico, earning 3 points, and on May 18, defeating Petey Williams in a sudden death tiebreaker singles match, winning the World X Cup for Team USA. On the June 1, 2006 edition of TNA Impact!, Sabin rushed to the ring to clear out Alex Shelley and Kevin Nash, who were attacking Jay Lethal in another of Nash's X Division beatdowns. Nash would avoid a physical confrontation with Sabin, only to be challenged to a match by Sabin at Slammiversary 2006 which Nash was able to win. Sabin later became the number one contender for the TNA X Division Championship by defeating Alex Shelley at TNA Hard Justice 2006. Sabin would enter into an angle with fellow X-Division wrestlers to promote the Jackass: Number Two movie by imitating stunts performed on the film to display the lighter side of the X-Division, something then champion Senshi disapproved of. Since then, Sabin would attempt to take Senshi's title on several occasions. On October 22, 2006, Sabin defeated Senshi after using an inside cradle to become a 3 time X-Division Champion at Bound for Glory 2006. On the November 2, 2006 edition of TNA Impact!, he lost the title to A.J. Styles in the Fight for the Right tournament. Prior to the match, Sabin showed signs of turning heel when he expressed his disdain for X-Division pioneer, and face, Jerry Lynn for doubting his focus in an interview with Christy Hemme. Sabin completed his heel turn two weeks later when he refused to help fellow X-Division star Sonjay Dutt from an assault from Samoa Joe. Sabin went on to challenge Christopher Daniels at Genesis for the X-division championship but failed. After winning a triple-threat match against former allies Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal for a number one contender's match, he once again challenged Daniels at Turning Point but lost. At Final Resolution 2007, Sabin won the X Division Championship from then champion Christopher Daniels in a triple threat match which also involved Jerry Lynn. Sabin went on to feud with Lynn over the title; defeating him at Against All Odds 2007 by using the ring ropes for leverage. At Destination X, Sabin defeated Lynn in a two out of three falls match to retain the X Division Championship. After the match, however, a masked man, who was later revealed to be Christopher Daniels, attacked both Sabin and Lynn. At Lockdown Sabin retained his title against Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Shark Boy in a Six Sides of Steel Xscape match. At Sacrifice he retained his title against Sonjay Dutt, and Jay Lethal, by pinning Dutt. Sabin lost his title at Slammiversary, however, to Lethal. Sabin received a rematch on Impact! against Lethal and Samoa Joe, but Sabin was pinned after Joe hit a Muscle Buster. Motor City Machine Guns (2007–present) In the summer of 2007 Sabin formed a tag team with Alex Shelley, known as the Motor City Machine Guns. The two had been teaming in several independent promotions prior to their formation as a team in TNA. Sabin and Shelley started a feud with Team 3D, turning face, which stemmed from Team 3D constantly attacking the X division every week. He competed in TNA's World X Cup as a part of Team USA/TNA along with Alex Shelley and went undefeated as a tag team throughout winning two tag team matches and the 12 man elimination tag team match. Sabin and Shelley turned heel, when, after a match with B.G. James and Eric Young, Sabin slapped James in the face. Sabin and Shelley lost a TNA World Tag Team Championship match at Turning Point to Beer Money, Inc. Sabin and Shelley turned face then joined The Frontline. During December 2008 Sabin qualified for the finals in the X Division title tournament after defeating Sonjay Dutt and Kiyoshi. On January 11, 2009, at the Genesis pay-per-view, Sabin was defeated by his tag team partner Alex Shelley for the X Division title. Sabin and Shelley floated through various storylines, not seen or heard for awhile. Sabin and Shelley eventually began popping up in the crowd with various signs, such as "Yes, we still work here". Sabin and Shelley would then be given their own broadcast table and would occasionally do commentary for various matches. On the October 22 edition of Impact!, Sabin and Shelley would win an Ultimate X match against Lethal Consequences to become the number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the October 29 edition of Impact!, Sabin suffered a concussion during a match with Team 3D after landing on his head, but it was announced he was not injured. At Turning Point The British Invasion (Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus) defeated Sabin and Shelley and Beer Money, Inc. in a three-way match to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles. The following month at Final Resolution the British Invasion defeated Sabin and Shelley to once again retain their titles. At Destination X Sabin and Shelley defeated Generation Me (Jeremy Buck and Max Buck) in an Ultimate X match to earn another shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Sabin and Shelley received their title shot on the April 12 edition of Impact!, but were defeated by World Tag Team Champion Matt Morgan and Amazing Red, who replaced the injured Hernandez in the match. The following month at Sacrifice the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. and Team 3D in a three-way match to earn another shot at the Tag Team Championship. On July 11 at Victory Road the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. to win the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship for the first time. After Victory Road the Motor City Machine Guns entered a Best of Five Series with Beer Money, Inc., contested for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Beer Money won the first two matches, a ladder match and a Street Fight, after knocking their opponents out with beer bottles. However, Sabin and Shelley came back to win the two following matches, a steel cage match and an Ultimate X match, to even the score to 2–2 and set up a deciding match for the August 12 edition of Impact!. On the August 12 edition of Impact! the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a Two Out of Three Falls match to win the Best of Five Series and retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. The following month at No Surrender, the Motor City Machine Guns retained their titles in a match against Generation Me. After the match Generation Me turned heel by attacking the Machine Guns and injuring Shelley. Return and Championship feuds (2013-Present) In the weeks leading to Slammiversary XI, Sabin competed in come-back matches following his return from injury to compete in the X Division. He embarked on a rivalry with Kenny King for the X Division Championship and faced him in a three-way match on June 2 at Slammiversary XI also facing Homicide. He won the title against the two men. On the June 6 of Impact Wrestling, Sabin wrestled with tag team champions James Storm and Gunner to face Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and Kenny King, winning the match for his team by pinning Kenny King. On the June 27 episode of Impact Wrestling Sabin lost the belt in a match against King and Suicide. However it was revealed that the Suicide in the ring was an imposter as Hulk Hogan came out immediately after the match, accompanied by T.J. Perkins, the real Suicide who was attacked by the imposter before the match. That same night revealed the imposter was in fact Austin Aries who then qualified to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship by winning the X-Division title. During the opening hour of the July 4 edition of Impact Hulk Hogan announced that Aries would face Sabin and T.J. Perkins, repackaged as Manic in a three-way match for the X-Division title. Sabin went on to win the match during the main event of that night. On the July 18 episode of Impact, Sabin faced Bully Ray for the TNA Heavyweight Championship, successfully winning the title. Ring of Honor (2003–2010) Sabin made his debut for Ring of Honor on June 14, 2003, in a four-way match, won by Homicide. He would wrestle for the company sporadically before leaving in February 2004. He would return on November 4, 2005, to unsuccessfully challenge Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship. He returned to ROH along with tag team partner Alex Shelley on March 30, 2007, following the Briscoe Brothers winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The two challenged Jay Briscoe for a shot at the title on April 28 in Chicago, then attacked him after he accepted. The two would ultimately lose the match and leave the company. They also worked for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and challenged for the PWG World Tag Team Championship, although they never won. In April 2008 Sabin and Shelley returned to ROH, losing to The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) and defeating the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on the 18 and 19 respectively. In August 2008 Sabin and Shelley once again returned to ROH, wrestling Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson to a 25 minute time limit draw and losing to Kevin Steen and El Generico on the 1st and 2nd respectively. They were scheduled to return to ROH on October 24 and 25, but were pulled from the events by TNA and replaced by The Latin American Xchange. On February 13, 2010, Ring of Honor announced at their 8th Anniversary Show that the Motor City Machine Guns would return to the company on May 8 in New York City. On May 8 the Motor City Machine Guns were defeated by the ROH World Tag Team Champions Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) via disqualification, when the Briscoe Brothers interfered in the match. Japanese promotions (2006–2009) On August 25, 2006 at Korauken Hall's ZERO-1 MAX show, Sabin and Alex Shelley became ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Champions, when they defeated former champions, Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita. They held the titles for nearly two years, before dropping them to Minoru Fujita, and his new tag team partner, Takuya Sugawara, on April 6, 2008. On January 4, 2009, Sabin and Shelley defeated No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō and Yujiro) at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom III to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. After three successful title defenses, two of which took place in TNA, Sabin and Shelley lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles to Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) on July 5, 2009, at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul. Personal life Harter was inspired by Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart and Rob Van Dam calling himself Josh Van Dam as a child. Harter used the money he earned from working at Subway to pay to attend a wrestling school, but also took classes at a community college. Harter and tag team partner Patrick Martin (Alex Shelley) are best friends in real-life, with Harter once joking that Martin was his "heterosexual life mate". Harter plays bass in a band called The High Crusade, which also includes Martin, former TNA wrestler Petey Williams and their friends Adam Tatro and Chris Plumb. The band released their debut album, It’s Not What You Think, on September 7, 2010. His ring name is derived from the character Sabin Rene Figaro from the video game Final Fantasy VI (originally released in America as Final Fantasy III). In 2008, Sabin, along with Alex Shelley, appeared in an episode of MTV MADE, teaching a school boy the basics of professional wrestling. Harter is a big fan of the band 311 and has used songs by the band as his entrance themes on numerous occasions. At Destination X 2007, held on March 11, a day known to the fans of the band as "311 Day", Harter referenced the occasion on his wrist band. He has also mentioned the band on TNA's web program TNA Today. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Cradle Shock'' (Cross–legged Samoan driver) **Double chickenwing piledriver – independent circuit **''Future Shock'' (Fisherman buster) – 2003–2005 **''Over Easy'' (Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack flipped sideways into an implant DDT) – 2006, used rarely thereafter *'Signature moves' **''Bum Rush'' (Swinging side slam backbreaker) **Diving leg drop **Enzuigiri **''Hesitation Dropkick'' (Running delayed low–angle dropkick to an opponent held in the tree of woe position) **Hurricanrana **''Leap of Faith'' (No–handed springboard suicide dive) **Multiple suplex variations ***Dragon ***German ***Northern lights ***Tiger **''Sabin Edge'' (Iconoclasm) **''Sabalizer'' (Side slam backbreaker) **Running arched big boot to a cornered opponent **Running crucifix powerbomb, usually into the middle turnbuckle **Suicide dive **Tilt–a–whirl headscissors takedown **Spinning sole kick **Slingshot somersault senton **Springboard into either a clothesline, a dropkick or a Tornado DDT *'With Alex Shelley' **'Finishing moves' ***''ASCS Rush'' (Spinning sole kick by Sabin followed by a superkick from Shelley and then finished with a simultaneous jumping enzuigiri by Sabin / superkick by Shelley combination) ***''Made in Detroit'' ([[Professional wrestling double-team maneuvers#Powerbomb, shiranui combination|Sitout powerbomb (Sabin) / Sliced Bread #2 (Shelley) combination]]) ***Powerbomb (Sabin) / Double knee backbreaker (Shelley) combination – 2006–2007 ***''Skull and Bones'' (Falling neckbreaker (Sabin) / Diving crossbody (Shelley) combination) **'Signature moves' ***Aided dropkick ***Aided snap swinging neckbreaker ***Aided [[DDT (professional wrestling)#Standing shiranui|standing Sliced Bread #2]] ***''Air Raid'' (Sabin holds an opponent in a fireman's carry while Shelley hits a diving double foot stomp onto the prone opponent followed by Sabin hitting a fireman's carry takeover onto Shelley's knees or the Cradle Shock) ***Backbreaker hold (Sabin) / Diving knee drop (Shelley) combination ***''Bullet Point'' (Baseball slide (Shelley) followed by a Hesitation Dropkick (Sabin) to on an opponent held in the tree of woe position) ***Doomsday dropkick ***Double and stereo enzuigiris to one or two opponents respectively ***Double superkick to a seated or a kneeling opponent ***Inverted STF by Shelley followed by a running dropkick to the face of the opponent by Sabin ***Irish whip by Sabin into a belly to belly suplex by Shelley, suplexing the opponent into his partner held in a tree of woe position ***Kneeling side slam by Sabin followed by a frog splash by Shelley ***''Motor City Machine Guns Sandwich'' (Running arched big boot (Sabin) / Enzuigiri (Shelley) combination to a cornered opponent) ***Reverse STO (Shelley) / Jumping enzuigiri (Sabin) combination ***Spinning leg sweep (Sabin) / Spinning wheel kick (Shelley) combination ***Springboard dropkick by Sabin into a reverse STO by Shelley ***Standing inverted Indian deathlock surfboard by Shelley followed into a springboard diving leg drop to the back of an opponent's head by Sabin ***''Thunder Express'' (Inverted sitout side powerslam (Shelley) / Running cutter (Sabin) combination) *'Managers' **A. J. Pierzynski **Traci **Trinity **Angel Williams **'Velvet Sky' *'Entrance themes' **"Flowing" by 311 (CZW / ROH) **"Modern Oz" by Dale Oliver (TNA) **"Hail Sabin" (Cover of "Offbeat Bare Ass" by 311) by Dale Oliver (TNA) **"1967" by Dale Oliver (TNA) **"Party with the Motor City" by Dale Oliver (TNA) **'"Motorcity"' by Adam Skaggs (TNA) Championships and accomplishments *'All American Wrestling' **AAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Shelley *'All Japan Pro Wrestling' **AJPW Junior League (2007) *'Blue Water Championship Wrestling' **BWCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) *'Border City Wrestling' **BCW Can-Am Television Championship (2 times) **Pro Wrestler of the Year (2007) *'Full Impact Wrestling' **FIW American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Great Lakes All-Pro Wrestling' **GLAPW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'International Wrestling Cartel' **IWC Super Indy Championship (1 time) **IWC Super Indy Tournament (2004) *'Maryland Championship Wrestling' **MCW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times) *'Maximum Pro Wrestling' **MXPW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times) **MXPW Television Championship (1 time) *'Michigan Wrestling League' **MWL Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'New Japan Pro Wrestling' **IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Shelley *'NWA Florida' **Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup (2005) *'NWA Great Lakes' **NWA Great Lakes Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NWA Great Lakes Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Ontario Championship Wrestling' **Tag Team Championship (1 time) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'28' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2007 *'Pro Wrestling Zero1' **NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Shelley *'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling' **TNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **TNA X Division Championship (8 times) **TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Shelley **Super X Cup (2003) **World X Cup (2004) – with Jerry Lynn, Elix Skipper, and Christopher Daniels **World X Cup (2006) – with Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, and Sonjay Dutt *'World Wrestling All-Stars' **WWA International Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter' **Rookie of the Year (2003) **Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact! *'Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling' **XICW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **XICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Truth Martini *'Other titles' **MMWA Marquee Heavyweight Championship References External links *TNA Profile *SLAM! Sports bio and story archive *Chris Sabin at Online World of Wrestling * *Interview with Tim Welch Category:American wrestlers Category:1 Pro Wrestling alumni Category:All American Wrestling alumni Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Ballpark Brawl alumni Category:Blood Sweat And Ears alumni Category:Border City Wrestling alumni Category:Championship Wrestling Experience alumni Category:Chikara Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Combat Zone Wrestling alumni Category:East Coast Wrestling Association alumni Category:German Stampede Wrestling alumni Category:Great Canadian Wrestling alumni Category:Independent Wrestling Revolution alumni Category:Insane Wrestling Federation alumni Category:International Wrestling Cartel alumni Category:Irish Whip Wrestling alumni Category:IWA Mid-South alumni Category:Jersey All Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Maryland Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Maximum Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Millenium Wrestling Federation alumni Category:Mr. Chainsaw Productions Wrestling alumni Category:New Era Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Northeast Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Florida alumni Category:NWA Midwest alumni Category:NWA No Limits Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Pro East alumni Category:Prime Time Wrestling alumni Category:Pro Pain Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Elite alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Guerrilla alumni Category:Pro Wrestling ZERO1 alumni Category:Ring of Honor alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling current roster Category:United Wrestling Federation alumni Category:UWA Hardcore Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling All-Stars alumni Category:Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling alumni Category:1982 births Category:Michigan wrestling Category:TNA X-Division Champions Category:2001 debuts Category:TNA World Tag Team Champions Category:MCW Cruiserweight champions Category:TNA World Heavyweight Champions Category:Michigan wrestlers